In football and in every sport losing a game or a title is one of the greatest pains believed to exist, but this week having to say farewell to two of our beloved and best players has to be one of the most difficult moments for me personally as a madridista. The pain of not having them there next season is inconsolable and I am literally holding back the tears having to write this right now. So I will be brief and maybe later when I get over this emotional slump I will expand on my admiration for these two symbols of el club blanco.

Gracias Guti!…

Guti our eternal promise that never shined the way he should have but when he did it was one of those moments that you never forget. So simple yet so magnificent. Un genio , un crack capable of the impossible. The critics never understood him and characterized him as someone who never cared about the game but those tears in the press conference demonstrated that he really did care and has always cared. Well anyway it is because of Guti and those glimpses of beauty that I understood why I loved this sport so much. Thank you, Maestro!

Gracias Raul!…

Our Angel of Madrid why must you leave us? The ideal would have been to have him stay in Madrid and see him retire from football here, but deep down although the majority of the madridista’s feel this way we all know that it is a bit selfish on our part. The man still has the need to compete at the highest levels and play regular football, and we cannot deny him this opportunity to explore different seas. So for his happiness we must let him go but never forget all that he had given to the madridismo. The goals, glories, silverware, but more importantly his heart and soul. He may leave to Germany or even England but he will eternally be ours to cherish and admire. Our captain gracias por todo! Raulista hasta la muerte!!!

Although the rumour of Guti’s departure to Galatasaray has not been confirmed, his clapping and waving to the Bernabeu crowd after the 5-1 trouncing of Bilbao seemed like a final farewell to the madridismo.

No, I’m not talking about the new ‘scary’ film starring Di Caprio, the island I’m referring to is way more terrifying and still brings nightmares to all of the madridismo. The island is none other than the damned island of Tenerife, where Madrid lost two league titles in a disastrous fashion. Writing this post and having to look at the images of those two dark events in our history still sends shivers down my spine. However, the positive is that this Tenerife team is a way different team from the one of two decades ago. Today, Tenerife find themselves ranked 19th on the table with a mere 20 points. The last time the team visited Tenerife was eight years ago and los galacticos walked away with all three points with a goal from Figo and a brace by Helguera. Furthermore, since the debacle of Tenerife, los blancos have only lost twice, so Madridista’s there is no need to be a pessimist but certainly we must be cautious.

Here is a quick overview of what you need to know:

Benzema and Guti will not be available. Although Guti has recovered from the groin injury, he still is not ready to go out and play. On the other hand, Benze is yet to recover and will also have to stay at Madrid. Another one who will be M.I.A is Arbeloa who is suspended.

Due to the number of players that will be out, Pellegrini has called up Marcos Alonso and Pedro Mosquera. Let us hope they are given some minutes!

El Mister spoke about the upcoming game and said the following:

“It would be a grave mistake to believe we’re guaranteed to take three points. I hope we concentrate hard on the match and that we respect our opponents as they deserve. We will have a tough time against Tenerife if we drop our performance level. It happened to other teams.”

In the same presser, Pellegrini praised Ronaldo and talked a bit about the differences in styles between Madrid and Barca. Plus he speaks about the criticism and insults he has recieved in his first season with Madrid. To read the entire presser, click here.

Well this concludes today’s post but I leave you my fellow Madridista’s with a sweet little nugget from 1998’s Tenerife vs Madrid game. Here is one of the best goals Roberto Carlos ever scored dressed in white (although here he is blue). Enjoy!

Guti would never have sold Sneijder. Speaking to Gazetta dello Sport, Guti reveals that if he were in charge at the club he would have never let go of Sneijder, but understands that the club had economical needs and that is why he did. When it came to his comments awhile back on his interest of joining Inter, he clarifies that he said it because Inter are a grand club and two of his best friends play their refering to Wesley and Eto’o. (I puke at the fact that Guti likes Inter Merda!) However, he insist that his future is only in white and hopes to retire at Madrid. The interview closes with Guti’s World Cup dream of giving the assist that leads to the goal which would give Spain their first World Cup. (AS)

Van der Vaart is just the latest madridista to jump on the Atleti bandwagon. It was VDV’s turn to speak to the press and made it clear that after Madrid are finished playing their game in Jerez, he will be an Atleti fan and actually is VERY confident that los colchoneros will beat Barcelona. He also makes note that the game in Jerez will be very important because his family who lives very close to that city will be there to see him. I hope he plays! (Realmadrid.com)

Calladito te ves mas bonito!

Valdano is Argentina’s number one enemy…according to El Diego. Ah its always great to hear from Maradona as he always has something interesting to say. Am I right? Well true to his style he lashed out again at Jorge Valdano accusing him of trying to kick out all the Argentine players from the club. Speaking to Estudio Futbol of TyC Sport, an argentine football show, he blasted Valdano saying that he finds it revolting that a fellow Argentine would do that to his compatriot. He adds that Valdano “kicked out Heinze, tried getting rid of Gago, and also wanted Pipita out but couldn’t because he scores more goals than Benzema and Raul.” Well I guess Valdano won’t be invited to Christmas dinner at the Maradona household anytime soon.